Porsche sets new quality standards

International experts’ conference at Leipzig plant deliberates on future programme

Stuttgart/Leipzig. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is girding itself for tomorrow’s challenges with a forward-looking quality strategy. The growth in vehicle production, an increasingly diverse model range and technical complexity, innovative drive concepts and discerning customers’ individual expectations of premium sports cars require the continuous development of all quality criteria. That is the goal of the international quality conference for which 150 experts from the sports car manufacturer’s development, production, purchasing and worldwide sales areas are meeting at Porsche’s ultramodern Leipzig plant.

“The degree of transparency of our customised lean production processes is one of the primary guarantors of our sporty vehicles’ extraordinary product quality”, said Wolfgang Leimgruber, Porsche AG Board of Management Member for Production and Logistics. Porsche production methods are constantly being refined within a continuous improvement process, collectively by all employees. They are held up as an example in expert circles worldwide – and are even transferable to totally different industries. Mr Leimgruber said: “The highly efficient Porsche principle gives us the flexibility to deliver on our customers’ many and varied individual equipment preferences while at the same time not merely maintaining quality levels but enhancing them. This cannot be taken for granted in the industry.”

The Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer does however depend on reliable partners. “The only way in which we can reliably achieve our objectives is if we and our suppliers adhere to the same jointly determined rigorous principles. That is why we believe in long-term partners we can cultivate and develop close ties with. At the end of the day quality does not stop at the factory gate”, explains Mr Leimgruber.

Dr. Stefan Knirsch, Director of the Corporate Quality department is pursuing a holistic approach with his strategy: “For us a perfect and fascinating product goes without saying. But that is far from being the whole story. Of all people, customers who purchase a high value vehicle expect premium quality in all aspects. Only if each customer care experience is perfect; before, during and very long after purchase as well, can brand quality achieve its full credibility.”

This is why Knirsch rigorously ties all parts of the company into a quality concept with uniform standards and objectives. He does though value individual solutions when it comes to delivery: “We engage with our customers’ different cultural needs with an empathy that rivals the precision with which, for example, we tailor our sports cars to extreme climatic differences in our more than 110 markets around the world. That too is quality.”